SHARON’S BLOG

Persuasion. How-to. Compare and contrast. Enumerative. Are your students baffled by these types of essays?

Take heart! Use the 13 links you’ll find below that show how to format and write 6 types of paragraphs and essays.

As an added bonus, the last link leads to a very handy writing schedule you can use all year. Never say, “Write an essay,” again! (You’ve got to be kidding!)

These tutorials are appropriate for students in 7th – 12th grade. Use them now or bookmark them for future use.

{Writing Tip: If your student is not quite ready to write a whole essay, give him or her practice in writing the types of paragraphs you’ll find in this post. For instance, instead of writing a whole compare-and-contrast essay, how about a compare-and-contrast paragraph from one of the links in #5?}

Ready? Let’s go . . .

 Looking for a way your 7th - 12th graders can learn certain types of essays? Use these 13 links to how-to, enumerative, problem-to-solution, and many more!

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1. How to turn an interview into a narrative essay

trapeze interview

Do your students have to interview someone and then write it up as a narrative essay? Here’s your tutorial for it.

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2. How-to essays

butterflies image for how-to

How to write a how-to—get it right here!

Teacher, are you looking for an objective evaluation form to grade that how-to essay? Look no further!

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3. Enumerative paragraph or essay

enumerative essay

Students learn how to write an enumerative paragraph or essay (“There are three ways to procrastinate”) in this tutorial.

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4. Problem-to-solution paragraph or essay

invasive species

Whether it’s pythons in the Florida Everglades or how to clean up after an earthquake, students learn how to write a problem-to-solution paragraph or essay in this tutorial.

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5. Two methods of compare-and-contrast writing

Noah: Devoted or Demented?

Using the real Noah and the movie Noah as a springboard, students learn the block method of writing paragraphs or essays in this tutorial.

compare and contrast

Students learn the feature method of comparing and contrasting as they explore jobs in the armed forces versus jobs in civilian life. A free worksheet comes with this tutorial.

Campfire

And here’s a prompt with instructions on writing about the similarities and differences between gathering around the campfire versus around the TV.

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6. Opinion and Persuasion

opinion versus persuasion image

Students learn the difference between opinions and persuasion in this tutorial, complete with a writing exercise and a free infographic to download.

powerful persuasion tools

Just what it says ^^^^. Includes a writing activity.

persuasion image

Students learn powerful strategies from an important speech by a head of state. Plenty of spot-on examples and a fun writing activity.

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7. How to avoid plagiarism

plagiarism

Not exactly a type of essay, but this tutorial will help your students in every essay they write. Written by colleague Lily Iatridis, owner of Fortuigence.

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8. Bonus: Writing Schedule

Make writing easier with this free writing schedule for homeschool students

Never say, “Write an essay,” again! Use this day-by-day schedule to break down the tasks needed to complete an essay. Now each part is due daily. This is doable! This is success!

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Looking for fun middle school prompts? Follow this link. >>

Would you like engaging high school prompts. Follow this link. >>

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